Multiplayer

[Maloran]

I hope I'm not bringing up something that I shouldn't but I'm new and haven't seen anything about it so here it goes.

Will transcendence ever be multiplayer??? I think that a multiplayer feature would perfect the game! My brother and I would be an awesome team!

[Yugi]

Transcendence Multiplayer has always been an attractive prospect, and has been talked about quite a lot. You can read about it here:
http://s8.invisionfree.com/Transcendenc ... topic=1390
I certainly would like to see and play a multiplayer version of Transcendence, but unfortuntely it would require huge amounts of coding. You would have to re-write a large section of the game, and add lots more coding.

[Maloran]

So Anacreon gets multiplayer even online but Transcendence will be forever singleplayer for a very long time? :*(

[george moromisato]

Yes--Transcendence will be forever single-player.

I have nothing against multiplayer games. Yes, it would be cool to make a multiplayer Transcendence. It would also be cool to make 3D Transcendence. It would also be cool to create World of Warcraft except in the Transcendence universe.

But I cannot create any of those games--they are beyond my capabilities.

[ThorWarriorX]

George, you shouldn't say something like that. You made the only game (at least the only game I know) that attracted a huge ammount of players which became modders. Few games have this possibility. And the non-modder crowd is also huge, I know of many people who like this game, though they aren't part of the forums... Anyway, my point here is, even if you can't make Transcendence multiplayer now, you can always make it later wit hthe help of people, and etc. Do you intend in keeping transcendence alive until, say, 2011?[/b]

[george moromisato]

Anyway, my point here is, even if you can't make Transcendence multiplayer now, you can always make it later wit hthe help of people, and etc. Do you intend in keeping transcendence alive until, say, 2011?

Good point. Anything could happen--especially given enough dedicated people.

But I expect that in 2011 people will still be asking about multiplayer Transcendence and I'll still be giving the same answer.

[palmiche]

Anyway, my point here is, even if you can't make Transcendence multiplayer now, you can always make it later wit hthe help of people, and etc. Do you intend in keeping transcendence alive until, say, 2011?

Good point. Anything could happen--especially given enough dedicated people.

But I expect that in 2011 people will still be asking about multiplayer Transcendence and I'll still be giving the same answer.

I've started my self several projects with little kwnowledge of the subject. Good intentions and will aren't the only things required but are very important also. Saying "beyond my capabilities" it's only half truth because you have created a great game from nothing but an idea and there should be no limits to what you can actually do if you have the time, resources, and will.

Trancendence has a lot of support from the comunity and I'm sure you'll have all the help (of all kinds) you need if you ask for it.

[Yugi]

George is already making Transcendence for you, isn't that enough? Making multiplayer version would probably mean he won't have the time to continue ordinary Transcendence.

[palmiche]

George is already making Transcendence for you, isn't that enough? Making multiplayer version would probably mean he won't have the time to continue ordinary Transcendence.

Please don't miss my point: I'm happy enough with the game but george's post sounded a bit pessimistic and a person who have carried a game like Trancendence so far shouldn't be so. I don't want a multiplayer Trancendence because I see no point on it, what I say is that george will get a lot of help and support no matter what he decides to do next. 8)

Hope this clears the image you got fro the previous post.

[george moromisato]

[quote="palmiche]Please don't miss my point: I'm happy enough with the game but george's post sounded a bit pessimistic and a person who have carried a game like Trancendence so far shouldn't be so.[/quote]

Thanks for your encouragement. I don't mean to sound pessimistic--when it comes to Transcendence, I have no doubts about its future (especially given the enthusiasm of the community).

But I have enough experience writing games (single- and multi-player) to know what it would take to create multi-player Transcendence. It would basically involve re-writing everyting except the most basic systems. That is not a task that I'm interested in.

[palmiche]

Thanks for your encouragement. I don't mean to sound pessimistic--when it comes to Transcendence, I have no doubts about its future (especially given the enthusiasm of the community).

But I have enough experience writing games (single- and multi-player) to know what it would take to create multi-player Transcendence. It would basically involve re-writing everyting except the most basic systems. That is not a task that I'm interested in.

Yeah!! I know what "rewriting" actually means in terms of software coding

[SparcMan]

That's why Transcendence MP will be a totally separate game right?

[ThorWarriorX]

George, isn't there a way to set a separate program that enables a simple connection with 2 - 3 PCs, like the way the debug mode works? I mean, the debug mode can be enabled or not if we add the /debug, and so the multiplayer could be, but the program would enable us to connect to other pcs. Isn't this possible?[/i]

[Yugi]

I think that would be possible, but probably only in a LAN.

[HanClinto]

ThorWarriorX:
The problem comes with structuring the game in such a way as to support having multiple players in the universe at once. Many things would have to be recoded from the beginning to even add support for doing such a thing like you're talking about.

Trying to add multiplayer to Transcendence at this point would be like trying to retrofit a VW Beetle to work as a submarine. Sure, it's possible, but it would take a heck of a lot of work and if you're going to try and build a submarine, it would probably be easier to just start from scratch.

The main technical challenge with making multiplayer games is the issue of synchronization -- everything in the world has to be designed to behave out of sync (because of lag issues), but to feel like it's in sync with all of the other players.

The main content challenge with making multiplayer games is the issue of balancing. In a single player game, everyone who plays it can be king of the universe. Sadly, in multiplayer games, that can't exactly be the case. So it's one thing to balance player-vs-environment interaction, it's an entirely different thing to balance player-vs-player interaction.

So not any of this is impossible -- it just requires dedicated design and effort put towards it to make multiplayer possible, and from what little I've seen, I don't think that it's in the stars for George to be working on that any time soon (if at all).

I've worked for years on a multiplayer transendence-like game (I was actually trying to make a multiplayer Escape Velocity-like game), and maybe someday I'll finish it. I've certainly learned a lot along the way.

Cheers!

--clint